"The Justice Department released a letter late Thursday afternoon, hours after six individuals protesting Alabama’s immigration law conducted a sit-down demonstration near the Alabama Senate chamber, saying Alabama’s controversial immigration law had “significant and measurable” impacts on schoolchildren.

The letter, written by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez, said Section 28 of the current law, known as HB 56, could “implicate” the 1964 Civil Rights Act, banning discrimination in public schools and programs that receive federal assistance."